What we had to do
For our preliminary task we were challenged to create a short film mainly focusing on continuity. The short film had to include someone opening a door then walk across a room, exchange a few lines of dialogue.
Planning
After being given the brief, we were allowed to go off and find somewhere to film and decide upon how we would go about filming. This included a script and the variety of shots that we would be using. Once we had decided upon an area to film in and worked out what shots would work best for the scenes, we drew up a floor plan for the film. This would help us with continuity because it allowed us to track which side of the character we have to shoot to abide by the 180 degree rule and what parts we needed to film next. We then decided that making a story board would be beneficial because it gave everyone in the group a clear idea of what we wanted to achieve. We also had to decide on a script for the characters to follow in the film. Because our film was about a school drug deal we originally thought about using lines from Breaking Bad but couldn't decide so due to time we just created a few basic lines of our own and got to the actually filming.
Techniques
In our film we used a wide variety of camera shots such as, an over the shoulder shot. For this shot (character walking towards door) we wanted to film by hand to give it a slightly bumpier effect because its a drug deal and its a risky thing to be doing. We then used a wide angle shot for when the character walked out of the building to show theres nobody around but also to add to the eeriness of the scene. Another one of the key factors we had to consider was the 180 degree rule which entailed us always being on a certain side of the characters so it always shows her to be walking in the same direction otherwise it could cause confusion to the audience. When the two characters talked to each other we used over the shoulder shots at different angles to show the power dynamics, this was influenced by a clip from House of Cards where the main character Frank had an aggressive conversation with another character. For the actual exchange of the drugs we decided it would be best to use an extreme close up to show the audience what is happening as it is a key part of the film.
Main Learning Points
One of the most useful skills that I learnt throughout the preliminary task was how to use a tripod and learn the effects that the smoothness of a shot can have on the overall atmosphere of the audience. In addition to this another useful thing I learnt how to use was a floor plan, before the task I had no idea what they where or the relevance they had to a film but after using one myself I now see how beneficial they are to have a successful film, especially when it comes to continuity.
This was our mark for the preliminary task.
From this mark sheet Kieran and I were then able to see where we went wrong which was the 180 degree rule. We then went back and analysed our prelim video and noticed that we accidentally filmed from the wrong side for one shot during the conversation piece. Therefore next time we do this we will be more careful in the editing part of the task.
